#peachblossom au

[cricketnationrise]

Congratulations on another hundred!

Could I request hockey-AU Kel at the rink with her beloved Peachblossom? 🥰 Umm really early in the morning, maybe 5:08 am

Thanks love! you can ALWAYS request more hockey au Kel 💜 Enjoy my dear :D

want your own ficlet? rules here

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

corus university knights rink, 5:08am

Kel makes her way across campus to the rink with her face buried in her scarf. It’s earlier than she’s ever been to the rink, but Stefan doesn’t do more than raise an eyebrow as she drops her gear bag off, snags keys, and heads to the garage.

Gleaming in the half light is Peachblossom: Terror of the Rink – if you listen to Neal. Kel never has. From the first time she learned to drive him, she’s felt a connection to the zamboni, like the machine is alive somehow, like they’re a team.

“Morning,” she says, climbing nimbly aboard. "I know it's a little earlier than usual but let’s get going, boy.”

The roar of the engine when it turns over sounds resigned underneath the vroom and Kel laughs. “Rise and shine, we’ve got ice to smooth.”

Kel steers Peachblossom out onto the ice and feels her stress start to fall away. The jeers, the constant sneering, the cloud of hostility from Joren and his cronies is wearing. The never ending homework and practices drain her energy. But when she’s driving the zamboni, none of that matters. She and Peachblossom glide across the ice as one being, working together to fill the divots and scrapes left over from a full day of skating. With every turn, the insults recede, the bruises heal, and Kel basks in the stillness around her. Everything’s easier to deal with when she’s on the ice, whether she’s skating or putting Peachblossom through his paces.

When the ice is silky smooth, and shiny enough to see the reflection of the ceiling, Kel drives him back to the garage. She does her checks, refills the fluids and pulls loose bristles out of the brushes. It’s still early so she goes over the top with maintenance, even going so far as to vacuum out the seat cushion and polish the engraved horse over the engine.

“The other machines are going to get jealous that Peachblossom is getting so much of your attention,” Stefan comments from the doorway.

“The others aren’t as finicky as Peachblossom,” she shrugs. “Did you need help with anything?”

“Yeah, I’ve got some riff raff out front. C’mon.”

Kel pats Peachblossom’s side in parting and follows Stefan through the maze of tunnels to the lobby, rolling her eyes when she sees Neal and Merric making faces at her through the glass.

“I run a tight ship here, Mindelan, I can’t have this flotsam hanging around cluttering up the place,” he says, all mock sternness.

“On it, sir,” Kel says with a nod, biting down on her grin and heading out to meet her friends.

[finleycannotdraw]

you told me you loved me.

I’m back with more how familiar the danger art <33 once again if you haven’t read this au series (by @peachblossom-odyssey), you totally should. it’s an absolute delight. this is a scene from the latest installment, the spider that held a star! since it’s raining basically the whole time I decided to work just in blue, and I think it turned out pretty well!! (though drawing ambrosius in blue was a bit of a crazy time fjdkjdngkg)

[yelhsaqi]

that nimona au by @peachblossom-odyssey i loved ballister sm here 😭😭

[sonsuzjm]

You don't know how much I love this author's writing.

Here I leave you a fanart of her AU fanfic “come one, come two, come all” (Nim’s Circus)

@peachblossom-odyssey

[theladyragnell]

oooh for the ask meme - Kel and co., high school AU? this is just a dynamic that I absolutely live for <3

So the obvious thing here is, like, "Kel insists upon joining a men's sports team," but I think I've seen someone do something with that before, so let's try something else!

There is some kind of All Boys School that works rather like Eton, it's an incredibly prestigious boarding school that prepares future leaders, movers and shakers, and since Jonathan of Conte, a legacy student who's now in government and is head of the school's board, took over, there's been a rule on the books preparing the way for girls to attend, and Kel is, of course, willing to be the test case.

The thing with a high school AU is either that Neal has to be Kel's age, or he has to be some random older student who pops in to check on the babies? I think we're going to split the difference here! Neal is ~two years older than Kel, and he just transferred here from a less strait-laced school, but this school requires you to have a certain competency in, I don't know, horse riding, so he's put in with the youngest class for that, and that's how he and Kel bond.

First Test and Page play out much like they do in canon (allowing for everyone to be high school age, so starting the age they would be in Squire), Peachblossom things included, but with more focus on academics than on weaponry and probably with rowing and fencing instead of what weaponry remains. But the bullying and hazing plots remain largely intact.

Lalasa is on the school's cleaning staff, and as one of the few women working for the school she's given a bonus to live on-campus and act as Kel's Dorm Guardian, which is how they bond. On the day of Kel's final exams, which is also a day that alumni frequently come around, Joren locks her in an old outbuilding attic somewhere on campus.

I was trying to think of how to make the bandit attack work, and I think it's that they're on a summer camping trip learning how to light fires and things like that. Kel and her friends go to get some firewood and stumble into some kind of smuggling ring like it's a proper Boys Own Adventure story, and they bravely fend them off until the authorities arrive.

And then all the Squire and Lady Knight stuff is college and post-grad and would depart the text way more than this does!

[zyrafowe-sny]

oh I have some questions if you're taking!

11: Link your three favorite fics right now

45: Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

70: When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

Thanks so much for the ask! Asks come from this post.

11: Link your three favorite fics right now

This is so hard. There are so many good fanfics out there.

I will always love @sercezgazety's/theprincessofdenial's A Potter's Field. It was written before For the Future aired, and is a darker look at how post-Belos life and political restructuring/lustration could look like, particularly for the former Golden Guard. I appreciate how the story is also told/supplemented through other media (like archaeological field notes), and the whole fic matches my academic interests pretty closely (studied anthro, politics, Eastern Europe, democratization, etc. once upon a time). Full disclosure: I did beta read it and was generally a chapter or two ahead of other readers, so that made the comment section even more fun. In general, I highly recommend the comment section of all theprincessofdenial's fics in addition to the fics themselves.

After a long stretch of being most interested in genfic (especially in the TOH fandom), Nimona has gotten me into shippy stuff again. I'm enjoying @peachblossom-odyssey's/LiterallyThePresident's how familiar the danger series because it's an interesting concept for an AU (Ballister doesn't become a knight), the universe is dark/gritty, and all the Ballister/Ambrosius interactions are fire.

I also really like @thegrimshapeofyoursmile's Strange Infatuations series since I am a sucker for worldbuilding, especially worldbuilding based on research.

45: Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

Both? One of my favorite books - Under the Whispering Door - made me cry actual tears and laugh out loud, so that kind of emotional rollercoaster is something I aspire to.

A good chunk of my writing falls into bittersweet, but even my "funny" fics like World's Best Turkey Carver and LuluRoe include nods at grief. My most angsty fics tend to be short and follow canon closely - I haven't invented much new angst for the blorbos.

I'm a little proud that I get this kind of range of comments across my fics (yes, I re-read comments as a pick-me-up and cherish each and every one):

"I don't know if i should laugh or cry ahdjshjd"

"Thank you for making me look like an idiot in front of my roommate! I laughed way too hard at that part."

"Aaaaahhh this hurt. This hurt me. Akkskssmzndkdk"

"This gave me such a quiet, sweet little heartache."

"I want to cry but I'm in a public place"

"I love this so much! Though you will be paying my therapy bills"

"It took me over an hour to finish reading this fic because I kept laughing so hard kdnfjskdkfmdkdkfjdk Oh my god, I had like twenty different giggling fits."

70: When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

It wasn't until after I posted my third TOH fic that I confessed to my long-term partner that I was writing again and shared my AO3 username. There's just something about writing that exposes a bit of your soul, and having my writing connected to me as a person can feel mortifying.

I have mentioned to a few people that I write fanfic without linking to my work, and that's been easier (sometimes to friends/acquaintances who are also in fandom spaces, sometimes to my real life professional writer friends/acquaintances in a "I am but a humble amateur but still can relate somewhat to your writing vent post/your messed up Google algorithm" sort of way).

Basically, I don't consider amateur writing (fanfic or otherwise) embarrassing, but am more personally shy about sharing what I write with people who know me in real life.

[rucherdupillier]

Les floraisons se succèdent en ce moment et aujourd'hui c'est au tour des pêchers de nous offrir leur beauté et leur délicieux parfum ! 🌸🍑 Mais ce n'est pas que pour le plaisir de nos yeux et de notre nez, c'est aussi une aubaine pour nos amies les abeilles qui vont butiner ces fleurs sucrées 🐝💕. Les pêchers sont en effet une source importante de nectar et de pollen pour ces précieuses pollinisatrices 🌸🐝🌸. Alors, prenons quelques instants pour admirer la nature et les petits miracles qui s'y déroulent tous les jours 🌿💚 ► www.mon-abeille.fr #abeilles #rucher #apiculture #nature #environnement #conservation #miellocal #biodiversité #pollinisation #sécuritéalimentaire #merveillesdelanature #pollinisateurs #jardinage #fleurs #écologie #RespectDeLaNature #ProtectionDesAbeilles #SauvonsLesAbeilles #AgricultureDurable #AbeilleDomestique #SustainableFarming #Cleanliness #BeesofInstagram #BeeLovers #BeeAware #BeeFriendly #floraison #naturelover #peachblossom #abeillesheureuses (à Rucher du Pillier) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp95XJnI9PH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[meatsparrow]

“Been f’ever since I’ve seen you.”

[dittomckiddo]

Not apart of a certain discord server about this particular au but I happen to know a person for details

[spinydogfish]

Has the s4m discord im in been workin on a whole au for like a week??? Maybe...

[snakesarebitingatmyheels]

“Only the very edge of the balcony is obscured from this angle. There’s no time to prepare, no time to react, no time to brace himself: Habit’s skin crawls and stomach curdles and then Kamal is wobbling on his feet framed by the balcony doors, resplendent with clematis.”

-“Round The Prickly Pear” by alientongue on AO3.

this is my favorite smile for me fic i’ve read, i had to draw something for it!

[funonion001]

Hey yall! My friend has been working on a big project for the last week. And today they just released the first chapter of their PeachBlossom AU for smile for me! Please read it if you have the time. Thank you! https://archiveofourown.org/works/20273665

[tellerluna-stories]

zhongli dreams of one day opening up a little tea shop/cafe with you. nothing in life would compare to the wafting scent of tea leaves and your joyful humming in the background, and the thought has him melting just a little inside. yes… perhaps with some help from the northland bank this dream might well become a reality one day.

diluc often stares at you as if he’s never seen anything for gorgeous in his life- if only you could see just how he gazes at you with all the affection in his eyes. you’d never notice, though. he wouldn’t let you. he’d rather bury himself in a hole and rot there than face the embarrassment.

when back home, childe loves to rant to his siblings about you. it’s such a joy to watch their older brother in so much glee talking about someone he holds so dearly. whether it’s about your little habits, something you’ve done or something he wishes he could do with you, his siblings are in for quire the earful.

the balladeer spends an awful lot of time staring up at the moon on restless nights, regretting things he might have said or done to you. he’s… aware of his behaviour- that’s for sure. but he doesn’t quite know how to change. he didn’t like the way your expression fell at that one snappy quip of his. perhaps he went too far this time…

kaeya hates the way rosaria can see through him whenever they go out for their casual drinking session- hates how he can see the pity in her eyes whenever he drunkenly sighs your name on these nights. the captain can feel a familiar pair of eyes on his slumped body coming from the counter but he does his best to pay it no mind. he already has his friend worrying over his emotional well-being. he doesn’t need his brother in the equation.

officer yes it's this one right here TAKE HER AWAY SHE IS MAKING ME CRY.

okay but 100% CAFE AU WITH ZHONGLI!!!!! THIS IS VERY SOFT AND SWEET 10/10,, is the house specialty peachblossom and glaze lily tea perchance? 👀👀

,,,,,u just rlly had to put diluc childe and [redacted] back-to-back huh,,,,,,,,, I'm in a rollercoaster of emotions now HOW DO U EXPECT ME TO FEEL HUH???? HOW

kaeya. why do u like making him suffer. WHY

[space-blue]

Mek / Marcus fic recommendation!!!

@majestalecter I know it started as a crack ship... but we started them in Arcane's world, then in a Uni teacher's AU where Mek is a psychology professor... to a Viking's AU... And wow, that one hit close to the heart and got us spitballing. So I did this sketch, and @peachblossom-odyssey went wild and did these two pieces :

Cannot recommend them enough!!! Please give them a read and some love if you're curious! It's 1.7k between the two of them!!

Inspired prose, incredibly good characterisation in such a short time. Also, very hot. ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

[ultimaid]

There’s a really good fic I found where people get peachblossom (flowers grow on their skin) and I’m drawing kamal when he got infected and I kind of like it?? And you said you like Kamal so do you wanna see it? Sorry if I’m bothering you I just figured you might like it too

oh i’ve heard about that au! yeah i’d love to see it!!

and anons NEVER bother me, i love hearing from y’all 💛

[statementends]

Oooh for bthb, jonmartin and stalking?

@peachblossom-odyssey asked for Jonmartin, Stalking

@badthingshappenbingo

Summary: Jon and Martin meet in a coffee shop. Does it really count as stalking if both parties have their eyes on each other?

Special thanks to: @backofthebookshelf, @sunlaire and @podcastenthusiast cause I used elements  of Coffee Shop AU? in this.

AO3: Link

It was stupid.

No it wasn’t stupid–

This was–alright… the thing was…

This is pathetic.

Martin sighed. He sat at the same table he had been sitting at for a week hoping he might come in again. He tried to tell himself that it was because he was like him, or something… adjacent to him. Tried to justify it to himself as fact finding and research. 

He didn’t want to see him again because he was that lonely. 

It wasn’t because of the way his eyes caught on Martin. How he scanned the room and stopped on him and made a beeline.

Rumpled clothes, dark circles under his eyes, strange scars on the few places he showed skin. 

Handsome definitely wasn’t the word… maybe underneath it all. If he hadn’t been so stunned he might have caught him. Tangled a bit of thread in his hair and made him to go home and sleep. He hadn’t even thought of it though after he told his entire tale to the complete stranger without fear or embarrassment. 

Well… not without fear. He felt the same terror. Spiders across his skin. Feeling changed. Knowing he had changed. 

For the last week there were times he’d dream of the man. It was strange though. Like an eye in the crack of the door. Like there should be more intensity to it, but something protected him. Maybe his powers. 

He sipped his tea trying not to let the disappointment soak in. He still hadn’t come. Maybe he really had just come for Martin. To hear his story. 

Seeing him.

Martin wanted to be seen again.

Maybe it was new instinct. 

It wasn’t. Martin, despite being a nice man was good at manipulation. Knew how to tug and where to tug. He knew how to get people where he wanted them, usually by offering tea and biscuits. 

Tea wasn’t the man’s favourite drink though. 

-

Jon stopped short.

In there. 

He stepped inside the cafe without a thought. Scanned around. Startled when he recognised one of the faces–but–

Oh.

Oh. 

That one.

He needed to hear… from them. 

He tried to play it casual. Tried not to be frightening. He’d like to think he wasn’t very good at being a monster, but he was. He was very good at terrifying people without trying. The woman finished and before he could thank her she stood up and left. He frowned. Usually they… stuck around. 

He felt better though. A lot better. He was about to stand when–

Oh. He had forgotten, the man he recognised. 

“Hello,” The man said. He had a round kind face. Big and tall, but not very intimidating and yet Jon was on edge. 

Well, he had heard his story. Even knowing everything he knew now spiders still creeped him out. 

“Ah… hi.” 

“We didn’t introduce ourselves properly last time,” The man continued pleasantly enough. It didn’t seem like he was about to be hit… which was a good sign. 

“Oh uh… well I… yes. Jon.”

“Jon. I’m Martin. You left quickly last time.”

“I ah… I’m not entirely comfortable with spiders…” Jon said slowly.

“Really? I’m not entirely comfortable with telling a complete stranger my trauma without him buying me a drink first, but here we are.”

Jon’s face went hot with embarrassment. “Oh, ah… yes I can understand that…” 

Martin had a weird look on his face that Jon read as disdain, but in reality was Martin realizing he was finding himself faced with trying to decide if this was low standards on his part or if Jon really was as adorable as he was thinking eyebags and all. 

“I uh… won’t do it again?” Jon tried to promise, tried to get up from his seat, but he felt stuck there. 

“Oh no, it’s fine!” Martin said quickly, his own blush appearing on his face. “Or… no, it isn’t fine, but I don’t… I mean… I do… but I…”

“I should go.” He felt panic when he still couldn’t move from his seat, but finally something snapped and he was able to stand. He fled the cafe.

-

Martin banged his head on the table.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

-

Jon’s fingers trembled as his tapped his oyster card.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

-

Next time Martin found himself a corner. Watched as Jon came in. No hesitation. Like the pull was too great. He watched, fascinated, Jon’s eyes–pretty eyes, definitely pretty eyes– devoured the man in front of him as he told him his story. What a strange… power? Martin still wasn’t quite sure what he was. The term monster had crossed his mind, but he had decided that was a bit too dramatic.

Human adjacent? Previously Human? Metahuman? It was a bit like a comic book. There had been no one to explain it to him. Not in detail. All of it was guesses and experimentation. If he had anyone to confide in he might have made a spiderman joke…

Hero wasn’t the word though. Definitely not. He was hurting people. Even if they were… nasty people… the gym teacher that had humiliated him and made him cry in front of his entire grade. His former supervisor who had been stealing money from the register and had blamed him. Got him fired. It had been almost impossible to get a job after that. They deserved this… they deserved his webs and they deserved Jon prying it out of them… 

He knuckles went a little white. He should probably be more afraid for himself… but it was nice to win for once.

He pulled his thread and Mr. O’Conner left leaving Jon and two cups of tea. Martin smiled fondly. Jon had bought Mr. O’Conner tea for his statement. 

He jerked up a little noticing Jon was staring at him. A pleasant shiver ran down his spine. He wanted to approach again, but wasn’t sure what to say. Something like: Hey, I’m like you, there’s no need to be worried about it. Or: I know you don’t like spiders, but they’re actually quite neat if you get to know them. Or something like: Please don’t stop looking at me. 

Yikes Martin, alright. 

Tentatively Jon stood, as if testing that he would be able to. With a bit of disappointment Martin let him. He knew he could… do as he liked with people… that if he wanted he could string Jon over and talk to him more, nothing really was stopping him. It wasn’t like he hasn’t … experimented a little, nothing too terrible, just cutting queues and stopping the bus from leaving before he got to the stop. 

And… maybe having the posh looking man at the bank withdraw a hundred pounds and give it to him… 

He had checked his statement first though! Made sure he could afford it… he just… he was a bit behind on money for mum.

Everything felt so… within reach now. 

He watched longingly as Jon left the cafe. Could still feel his eyes on him. 

Who was really watching who?

-

He found Martin was watching him. It was strange. Being able to actually spot the person watching him for once. The Eye was always there of course, and Elias he was sure kept close watch. He never saw them though. But Martin was watching him. 

He rubbed the back of his neck. Felt himself watching right back even though he’d rather not at the moment. Curiosity tingled, who was he? What was he? Why was he always here and why were there always statements? 

Web statements. 

He tentatively stood, but found he could move just fine. Memories of Mr. Spider clawed at the periphery. He left, still pondering the cafe and Martin, and what any of it might mean. 

-

He was … enjoying it. He couldn’t bring himself to feel ashamed though. Watching Jon… eat? It was… a sight to behold. And it was like his powers in some ways. Jon asked questions and no one would deny him answers.

Martin tried to grab tables that would have the best angles of Jon’s face. He would always be absorbed in the stories told to him, his face mirrored the terrifying scenes. Like he was afraid. Feeling their fear, but it was fueling him. He always looked so much healthier after hearing the stories. Like how Martin felt better tugging at people’s lives and pulling them in different directions. He was getting better at that. He had even found a person with a story that wasn’t about him. Jon had seemed surprised. Had glanced at him afterwards. 

Martin forgot how wonderful his direct gaze was, being on the edges for the past fortnight. 

He watched as Jon slowly approached him. Tentative and shy. He felt his own wave of nerves. It was easy to forget that he could control any situation at the snap of his fingers. He wondered what would happen if Jon asked him questions. How would it affect him. 

“You’re… doing this, right? The… statements.”

“Statements?”

“I… yes. That’s… that’s what they are,” Jon explained. It seemed like he expected Martin to know already. 

“Are you a police officer?”

“You… don’t know who I am?” Jon looked more relieved than anything, although there was a new worry surfacing in his pretty brown eyes. 

“No clue. Should I?”

Jon shook his head. He nervously tapped the table with his long fingers. Working up the nerve to do something. 

“I just…–why are you doing this?” And suddenly his fidgeting was gone, his tone was deep. Martin could feel a pleasant sort of static run across his forearms. 

And he told him.

“I have a crush on you. I like the way you look at me.”

“W-what!?” Jon’s voice went higher, all the power in his tone gone. 

“Oh that was…” Martin’s face went fire hot in embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to say that. Really he should have saw it coming, but he had thought it only worked with fear. “Sorry! Don’t–don’t run off!” 

But Jon was looking to do just that.

Martin caught him with threads. 

“Stop it.”

“You did it to me first. Just… just stay put for just a moment. I’m–I’m not going to hurt you or anything.” 

“You’re from the web.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Jon frowned. “You aren’t lying…” 

“I just thought… we have a lot in common. I’d like to get to know you, Jon.”

“This could be a trap.”

“You have a magic power that can pull the truth from people. Are you really worried about being lied to?”

“You’d be surprised…” Jon said softly. “So you…you’ve been doing this… bringing people here? Those stories are about…”

“Uh… me… yeah. Well… mostly.”

“Because you have a…”

“Crush uh… yeah.” Martin laughed awkwardly. He realized he was holding his threads tightly. If he let go now he might not see Jon again. 

Jon looked embarrassed and unsure.

“What?” Martin asked quietly. 

“I… I’m not exactly… the type people get affectionate over… especially from afar,” Jon answered. “And you’re so…” He blushed, looked to the side. “Well, you could obviously do better so I–”

“Do better?” Martin squeaked.

“Ah–” Jon’s voice was panicked. “I mean… you are… you’re very…” He coughed. “You’re cute.” 

“You think I’m cute!?” Martin didn’t know whether this was encouraging or not. Considering he was becoming some sort of spider monster maybe it was a good sign. 

“Could you–could you maybe let go? I–I promise I won’t leave it just… it makes me–I’ve had bad experiences with… spiders…” 

“Oh…” Martin hesitated, but slowly let his webs fall slack. Jon took a calming breath. He didn’t run. That was encouraging. 

-

Martin asked if they could meet again and Jon agreed. 

His instincts told him to run and run and run. And maybe it was Martin pulling him back against his will without his even knowing it… but… no. He would know.

Honestly this was a terrible idea, but it was…

Nice.

A normal sort of nice, even if he wasn’t normal anymore, even if Martin wasn’t a normal person. Martin admitting with a blush on his face that he had a crush was… a nice feeling and he wanted to explore it. 

And Martin wasn’t human… but that meant he couldn’t hurt him. 

He had hurt a lot of people by now. Starving was too hard. Fighting against himself was too hard. He was alone–no, worse. He had Elias who whispered in his ear and was so pleased when he let go another little part of himself for knowledge and the Eye.

And he’d be lying if part of all this wasn’t curiosity. Wanting to know Martin, this … web avatar that doesn’t quite know what he is. Wanting to know the type of person that finds Jon… alluring? 

Jon held his head in his hands at the thought. No. Alluring was not the word for any of this. This was silly. He had so many terrible things to worry about. Why was he doing this to himself?

“Jon?”

“Oh! Martin–right.” Jon put down his hands and sat up straight. Martin smiled at him affectionately.

“Did I catch you by surprise?”

“Usually you’re here first.” 

They decided to meet again at the coffee shop. Jon had shown up an hour early because if he hadn’t he would have paced in his office. 

“Usually I have to set everything up, it’s nice to have the free time… it’s nice to see you came.” Martin added shly. 

Jon nodded, played with his fingers. “I… yes, well… I was curious… and… you seem…”

“Nice?” Martin supplied with just a tinge of bitterness. Jon felt the knowledge click into place in his head. Martin had never been a popular boy, but he had never been particularly bullied. Just a neutral person in the background that the people around him found pleasant. “Nice.” 

Nice was a word you used when you didn’t know a person at all, at least that’s what Martin thought. Jon had always thought of nice as a nice thing, but with a wave he knew how Martin felt about it. Unseen. Alone. 

“No, I–” Jon said quickly. “Interesting…you seem interesting.” 

Martin perked up just a little at that. 

“I mean,” Martin laughed. “I guess nice isn’t really the word for something like us now, is it?”

“No, not really, although I don’t think anyone would call me nice even before.”

“Ah have you always been interesting then, Jon?” Martin teased.

“Er, well, more of the odd one out. I don’t… do people very well.”

“But you talk to them a lot now.”

“To feed off their greatest fears. It doesn’t exactly win friends.”

“It got my attention,” Martin smiled. 

They talked for… longer than Jon had thought. It was getting dark outside and their drinks had grown cold. Martin was an interesting person. Jon even told him a bit of what he knew of the Web, the other powers… more than he had meant to maybe, but something in him trusted Martin–maybe trust wasn’t right. Liked. He liked Martin.

Oh. He liked Martin. 

Elias wouldn’t be pleased.

Jon smiled. That could only be a good thing really.